Moon and Jupiter on September 9
5 comments Print Me Email to FriendTonight is Tuesday, Sep 09 2008
The first two celestial bodies that you’re likely to see tonight are the waxing gibbous moon and the dazzling planet Jupiter. These shining beauties appear in your southern sky at nightfall, in front of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer.
Tonight, the moon and Jupiter pair up by the handle of the Teapot – a group of stars in western Sagittarius. The Teapot is an asterism – a star pattern that is not a constellation. Although the moonlit glare might make it hard to visualize the Teapot tonight, try your luck in a week or two. By then, the moon will have left the evening sky. You can use Jupiter – a point of light that’s far brighter than any star – to locate the Teapot handle throughout September and October.
Many people like to watch Jupiter’s 4 major moons with binoculars or a telescope. In their outward order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Io and Europa are about the same size as our moon, while Ganymede and Callisto have diameters that are half again as large as the moon’s diameter.
Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, is even larger than Mercury, the closest planet to the sun!
There is a lot of cloud in Leicester but they opened up for 5mins so i could get a good look through some bins; although it was clearly visable to the naked eye. Jupiter seemed to be sitting higher and more northern than in the picture, Thanx for informing me on this sight though.
Henry,
Do you mean Leicester, England! When you say Jupiter looks higher, do you mean higher above the horizon? At your latitude, the moon and Jupiter should appear roughly 10 degrees (one fist-width) lower in your sky than at middle latitudes in the United States.
On these charts, the moon’s size is exaggerated. The distance between the two outer “handle” stars is about 3 degrees, whereas the moon’s diameter is really 1/2 degree. As long as you saw Jupiter, however, I’m happy, and I presume you are, too. Thanks for writing!
Bruce
I dont do star watching , but I have a question .l Is there a star named Victoria and if so what can you tell me about it.
Hello,, i saw the moon tonight and i thought it was just some ordinary night but this time i saw the moon abit closer if you know hat i mean but i couldnt spot jupiter well i mightve but without knowing,, will it happen again where i will get to see Jupiter?? thank you hamida x
Ursula and Hamida,
Ursula, I know of no star named Victoria, but I’ve heard of a Victoria Star cruise ship.
Hamida, try looking for Jupiter again tonight (Wednesday, September 10). If you live in North America, look for Jupiter a bit more than one fist-width (hold you fist an arm length away) to the right of the moon. Jupiter is much brighter than any star, so if it’s clear tonight, you should have no trouble finding this blazing planet!
Bruce